The community outreach effort of the Stormwater Management Program is the way to spread the word about pollution prevention. The Stockton community is learning how to protect our local waterways through classroom presentations to students, stream cleanup projects, as volunteers stenciling storm drains, from community presentations, and attending community events such as the annual Earth Day Festival. There are lots of ways to learn about stormwater pollution prevention.

Stormwater Pollution Prevention In The Classroom
This program can help teachers meet the science component of the California Content Standards for 5th grade students.

The pollution of our local waterways and The Delta is a major problem in Stockton. Stormwater pollution is caused when water from garden hoses, sprinklers or rainfall washes pollutants such as motor oil, antifreeze, paints, pet waste, trash, fertilizers and pesticides off impervious surfaces into storm drains.

Through a 35-minute interactive presentation, students will understand the importance of stormwater pollution prevention! They will learn about the water cycle, the earth’s limited supply of water and how our water is “recycled.” They’ll also get an overview of the difference between storm drains and sewer drains. Students will also gain a better understanding of the wastewater treatment process and its similarities to the way Nature cleans our most valuable resource...water.

There’s no charge for the program designed for 5th graders. The program includes a brief video presentation. Each student will receive an stormwater activity booklet and sticker. Each classroom will get a packet of water information and supplies, along with a copy of “Go With the Flow” stormwater video. If you prefer not to have a presentation, the materials can be provided for your use in the classroom.

Call 937-8791 to schedule a presentation in your classroom.
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Stream Clean Ups
Everybody’s doing it! Join volunteers from local high schools, the University of the Pacific, Delta College, the Friends of Smith Canal, the Friends of Five Mile Creek, the Friends of the Calaveras River, Little Friends of Duck Creek, Boy Scouts, and others who have organized stream cleanup project. By lending a helping hand and getting a little dirty these stewards of the environment have made a positive impact to our water quality.

Organize a class project, get members of your civic group or club, or just get a group of concerned neighbors together for a few hours to clean a waterway near you. The City’s Stormwater Management Program can help you get organized and will provide some supplies, too!
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CALIFORNIA COASTAL CLEANUP – Join thousands of other California volunteers to participate in the annual California Coastal Cleanup on the third Saturday in September. For the last five year, more than 500 Stockton residents, students and businesses have participated in this annual cleanup event along waterways throughout the community.

To organize your own stream cleanup event, or join other groups, call 937-8791 to get more information.
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Volunteer Stenciling Program
Did you know there are more than 20,000 storm drains in Stockton alone? Think about all of the debris and pollution that ends up in those drains, and then think about where those drains flow. That's right - into our local rivers, streams and channels. That means lots of water pollution! If the storm drains are clearly marked with a stencil that says "No Dumping - Flows to Delta," people may give more thought about what goes down those drains.

Stenciling storm drains is a great community service project for youth organizations, civic clubs, a group of friends or all by your self. The Stormwater Management Program will provide paints, stencils, and a map of where Stockton storm drains are located. Take a day, a week or as long as you need to stencil as many drains as you’d like. If you or your group stencils 100+ drains, you can receive special community recognition from the Mayor at a City Council meeting.

Call 937-8791 for more information on this program.
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Community Presentations
Do your students, employees, church parishioners, civic group or club members need a better understanding of the importance of our storm drain system to our water utility? Educating the community is the first step in working together to prevent stormwater pollution and protect our local waterways.

Staff members from the Stormwater Outreach Program are always available to educate the community about stormwater pollution prevention. Whether it’s using a watershed model display, a power point presentation, or just a short overview, your group can learn exactly how storm drains work and how pollution gets from our streets and neighborhoods into surrounding waterways.
If your group would like to schedule a stormwater pollution prevention presentation, call 937-8791.
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Earth Day Festival  
Each year in April, the City of Stockton partners with the Peace and Justice Network to sponsor the annual Earth Day Festival. The day is filled with activities to promote environmental awareness. The Festival has found a home at beautiful Victory Park, behind the Haggin Museum. More than 70 vendors are on hand with educational material, interactive displays, music, crafts and general information to promote stewardship of the environment.

The day is filled with a variety of wonderful entertainment as well. Some past performers have include Mariachi Juvenil, the always well-received Delta Sunset Belly Dance Troupe, Ripon High School Steel Drum Band, Lao Khmu Youth Dancers, Hamilton Middle School Jazz Band, to name but a few. The day’s events come to a traditional close with the rockin’ sounds of environmental activist band, Clan Dyken.

And there’s plenty of good food to savor while enjoying the music and displays.

There is no charge the Earth Day Festival.
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River of Words
River of Words® is a California-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that has been conducting training workshops for teachers, park naturalists, grassroots groups, state resource agencies, librarians and others since 1995, helping them to incorporate observation-based nature exploration and the arts into their work with young people.

The City of Stockton and the San Joaquin Watershed Education Partnership are local project affiliates with the River of Words® International, sponsoring the San Joaquin Co. River of Words Environmental Poetry and Art Contest.

The local contest invites all San Joaquin County schools students ages 5-19 (and not yet in college) to submit their work to both the local and international River of Words® Environmental Poetry and Art Contest.

The City of Stockton and the San Joaquin Watershed Education Partnership sponsors the local River of Words® Environmental Poetry and Art contest in conjunction with the annual Earth Day Festival held every April. The local contest is judged by professional poets and artists. Awards will be given for First Place and Honorable Mention for the following grade categories: K-4; 5-8; and 9-12. Certificates of Recognition will be presented to all participants. An exhibition of students’ entries will be featured at the annual Earth Day Festival.

FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS:
The following suggestions will help ensure your students’ entries conform to both the local River of Words® contests. Below are some suggestions to stimulate your students.

*During your computer lab time, check out examples of exemplary award-winning student work, at the River of Words® website at www.riverofwords.org.

*Consider poems and artwork that reflects the environment and agriculture.

*Take a field trip to the Haggin Museum to check out the artwork.

*Bring the environment into the classroom to help students practice art and compose poetry. Outdoor trips around your school are a good place to start. Use trips to nature areas for field studies. Take art paper, pencils and your imagination!

Throughout the Year:
*Find grade appropriate stories, poems and art about nature. Share them with your students. Use them as spring boards to writing poetry and drawing.

*There is nothing like another trip outdoors in a different season to stimulate creativity. Have students notice what is around them. Have them write or draw about their feelings while being outdoors. If there are no natural areas around your school, focus on the weather and sky.

*Work on description and images in poetry. Have students use jeweler’s loupes or magnifying glasses to observe details about plants and animals. Enlist the help of artists at your school, in the community or through visiting artists’ programs to provide tips about raising your students’ work to a high quality. .

*The subject of the poem or artwork should be a reflection about the environment, including agriculture. Consider water (rivers, creeks, rain, the ocean, the Delta), wildlife, flowers, trees, plants, aquatic creatures, vineyards, orchards, farms and food growing areas.

See www.riverofwords.org for international contest rules.

REMEMBER
Only Rain Down the Drain!